Green Line’s CEO says the downtown tunnel can be built

There have been some issues raised with the downtown tunnel portion of Calgary’s Green Line, but the project’s CEO is trying to put those doubts to bed.

Darshpreet Bhatti was hired last summer and he says the concerns over the proposed two-kilometre LRT tunnel under downtown can be overcome.

“I quite honestly don’t see anything that comes up as an insurmountable challenge,” Bhatti told CityNews Calgary.

“Most of the issues that are there are not unique, they’re common to tunneling and we are aware of those risks.”

He does note that the soil conditions downtown are not the most ideal but says that shouldn’t be enough to derail the project.

“All projects have different challenges, I’ve done underground stations and I’ve been involved in complicated technical solutions on other LRT projects,” he noted.

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Bhatti explains if you are aware of the risks, inform stakeholders and proponents, and carefully manage them, then you can overcome them.

“If you do that, then the risk doesn’t get eliminated, but the chances of it materializing and being severe can be easily managed,” Bhatti said.

“You can’t avoid everything on a major project like this, but you can be better prepared in managing those situations.”

There are two tunneling methods that could be used on the project: using a boring machine, and the “cut and cover” method.

A boring machine would just tunnel through the ground without disturbing the surface, while the other method would involve digging down to the required depth and then rebuilding the surface over the tunnel.

Bhatti explains that the city’s strategy may have to change in the future and cause them or the contractor to proceed with a different plan based on challenges that haven’t risen yet.

“As you can appreciate, even after you have a plan and you have a contractor on board, as they come across unknowns, on any project, sometimes you have to modify your approach to address that unknown,” he said.

The downtown tunnel would stretch from Victoria Park through the Beltline and into Eau Claire.

If construction goes through, it is expected to cause major disruptions.

Bhatti says communication will be important as it will help minimize the inconveniences people and businesses face during construction.

“The key here is timely information and keeping [people] informed,” he added.